The story of the bribe-taker in the Trademark office

/ By / Trademark

How often have you heard stories of hundred-rupee notes surreptitiously slipped into the inside flap of the folder slid across the table to that greasy-palmed government official in that dank office? And you have, no doubt, wondered if you will ever live to see the system change… For those of you who read the city pages of your daily newspaper carefully enough, will recall those three-centimeter, one column, stories of our investigative agency’s hunts, of many a guilty sarkari serpent, […]

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SPicyIP: Vodka Woes

/ By / Trademark

To add some intelligent babble to your vodka evenings, the trademark tussle that has erupted between the vodka barons Bacardi and Radico Khaitan may make for some interesting conversation at your social sundowners. Indian Vodka enthusiasts long dependant on illicit Vodka imports from the Russian mafia are now spoilt for choice….. Radico Khaitan ‘Magic Moments’ (Get Buzzed Moments or Maabo Moments sounds better for a brand of Vodka I guess) and Grey Goose from the house of Bacardi all promise

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Kerala Leftists for Copyleft…!

/ By / Copyright

Today, we bring to you a very interesting note by a promising young student, Shashwat Purohit. Shashwat is currently pursuing his LLM at the Franklin Pierce Law Center (Concord, NH). He comments on a slightly dated (March 5, 2008) but very interesting news report in the Indian Express and gives us the basic legal and political background of the Copyleft and Open Source movement. Please do feel free to ask us any questions or details and we’d be happy to

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Spicy Tidbit: The song and dance continues.

/ By / Copyright

Here’s more on Bollywood and piracy. We’ve had a lot written on this topic recently including Kruttika’s post on representations before the US Congress, Aamir Khan and remakes as well as my own tidbits on Krazzy 4 and the USIBC study. There are two things I want to point out in this article. One is the link it makes between Bollywood, piracy and Indians abroad. Film Federation of India Secretary Supran Sen says tens of thousands of people in these

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Compulsory for India?

/ By / Uncategorized

Here are two articles talking about or in one case implying the necessity for the Indian government to follow the Thai path with regard to compulsory licensing. In the Hindustan Times Sanchita Sharma talks about the conclusions reached by activists discussing IPR. Her article traces a logical path from the need for cheaper life saving medications to an Indian aspiration for the Thai model. The Thai government’s decision to issue compulsory licenses on essential drugs for HIV, heart diseases and

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Negotiating on IP and public health: the WHO IGWG

/ By / Drug Regulation

The IP world is abuzz this weekend with the meeting of the members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on issues of innovation and IP in public health, with a focus on the needs of developing countries, and neglected diseases. The Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) hopes to design a consensus strategy paper to be presented at the World Health Assembly later in May. An excellent overview of developments thus far can be found on IP Watch, which has been following

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SpicyIP Review

/ By / Uncategorized

An article entitled “Intellectual Property Rights and the Challenges Faced by the Pharmaceutical Industry” published in SCC journal in 2004 by the sitting Supreme Court Judge and the then Acting Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Justice Markandey Katju was brought to my notice sometime back.     The purpose of Justice Katju’s literary exercise appears to have been two-fold- (a) to explain the imperatives which required the Indian legislature to amend the Patents Act in 2005 pursuant to its

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Contextualising the Patent Regime.

/ By / Patent

As a law student, I am constantly reminded to always contextualise any principles that I may learn as a part of my syllabus. Mechanical application is not just brushed aside by professors of law, and is abhorred by the more competent ones. What this means in much simpler terms, is that no principle can be applied across the board- one should always look at prevailing circumstances and apply the principle accordingly. In this light, I just read an article by

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SpicyIP Tidbits: Mazaa trouble for Coca-Cola

/ By / Trademark

Mango season has begun, and I suppose it’s appropriate that the Mazaa trademark (one of the few packaged mango drinks on the market) should be fought over at this time of year. Two separate articles, in Economic Times and Business Standard, report that Bisleri, the biggest packaged-water player in India, is planning legal action against Coca-Cola (CC) India for attempting to register the Mazaa trademark in other parts of the world. The story so far:Bisleri claims CC had applied to

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SpicyIP Tidbit: Insulin Drug Lantus Now in India

/ By / Uncategorized

Quoting Aventis Pharma Managing Director Shailesh Ayyangar, The Hindu, reports that Solostar, a disposable version of the insulin drug Lantus has been launched in India by Aventis Pharma just 16 months after its launch in Germany. The report also mentions that Indian diabetic population is second to none making it the diabetes capital of the world. Lantus has a market share of 7 per cent in India with the worth of the Indian insulin market pegged at Rs 400 crore

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